February 14
February 14 is internationally known as Valentine's Day, named after the Saint Valentinus of Terni, in Italy, executed in 270. Events * 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages. *1014 - Pope Benedict VIII recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany. *1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV. *1349 - Approximately 2,000 Jews were burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg. *1556 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic. *1743 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister. *1778 - The United States Flag was formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to [[Wikipedia:USS Ranger (1777)|USS Ranger]], commanded by John Paul Jones. *1779 - James Cook was killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii. *1797 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent - John Jervis & Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) led the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar. *1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress which conflicts with the Constitution is void. *1804 - Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire. *1831 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay. *1835 - The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland. *1843 - The event that inspired the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is held. *1849 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken. *1854 - Texas linked by telegraph with the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall. *1859 - Oregon admitted as the 33rd U.S. state. *1876 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray. *1879 - The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta. *1886 - First trainload of oranges left Los Angeles via the transcontinental railroad. *1895 - First performance of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest at the St James's Theatre in London. *1899 - Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections. *1900 - Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country. * 1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State. *1903 - The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into Dept. of Commerce and Dept. of Labor). *1912 - Arizona admitted as the 48th U.S. state. * 1912 - In Groton, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned. *1918 - Tarzan of the Apes, the first movie featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan character, is released. * 1918 - The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1 February according to the Julian calendar). *1919 - The Polish-Soviet War begins. *1920 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois. *1924 - The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is founded. *1929 - St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois. *1942 - Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore. *1943 - World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated. * 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia. *1944 - World War II: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java. *1945 - On the second day of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. * 1945 - Bombing of Prague - probably due to a mistake in the orientation of the pilots bombing Dresden. * 1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the [[Wikipedia:USS Quincy (CA-71)|USS Quincy]], officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship. * 1945 - Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans. *1946 - The Bank of England is nationalized. *1949 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes. * 1949 - The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. *1956 - The XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union starts in Moscow. On the last night of the meeting, Premier Nikita Khruschev condemns Josef Stalin's crimes in a secret speech. *1961 - Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California. *1962 - First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House. *1966 - Australian currency is decimalised. *1979 - In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police. *1980 - Walter Cronkite announces his retirement from the CBS Evening News. *1981 - Stardust Disaster. A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people *1983 - United American Bank of Knoxville collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher is later convicted of fraud. *1989 - Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster. * 1989 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. * 1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit. *1990 - 92 people are killed aboarad Indian Airlines Flight 605 at Bangalore, India. *1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, a Russian serial killer was executed by shooting. *1996 - China launches a Long March 3 rocket, carrying the Intelsat 708 satellite. The rocket flew off course 3 seconds after liftoff and crashed into a rural village. *1998 - Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing. *2000 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. *2002 - The Tullaghmurray Lass sinks off the coast of Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland killing three members of the same family on board. *2004 - In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others. *2005 - Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, is assassinated, prompting the Cedar Revolution (Intifada of Independence). * 2005 - Seven people were killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines' Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City. * 2005 - YouTube, a popular video-sharing website, is established. *2006 - chip and PIN - UK cardholders had to use their PIN to be sure they could pay with their chip and PIN card. This change was made to better protect cardholders against fraudsters. *2007 - Several JetBlue Airways flights experienced extreme delays due to a snow storm, the longest leaving passengers trapped in their plane on the tarmac for 9 hours, leading to the creation of the JetBlue "Customer Bill Of Rights". Births *1404 - Leone Battista Alberti, Italian painter and philosopher (d. 1472) *1468 - Johann Werner, German mathematician (d. 1522) *1483 - Babur, Moghul emperor of India (d. 1530) *1602 - Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676) *1680 - John Sidney, English privy councillor (d. 1737) *1692 - Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (d. 1754) *1701 - Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (d. 1773) *1763 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813) *1766 - Thomas Malthus, English economist (d. 1834) *1788 - Fernando Sor, Spanish composer (d. 1839) *1812 - Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (d. 1846) *1819 - Joshua A. Norton, American eccentric (d. 1880) * 1819 - Christopher Sholes, American inventor (d. 1890) *1824 - Winfield Scott Hancock, American Civil War Union general (d. 1886) *1828 - Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (d. 1885) *1846 - Julian Scott, American artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. (d. 1901) *1847 - Anna Howard Shaw, American suffragette (d. 1919) * 1847 - Maria Pia of Italy, queen of Portugal (d. 1911) *1848 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934) *1856 - Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (d. 1931) *1869 - Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1959) *1871 - Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (d. 1959) *1882 - John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942) *1884 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, missionary (d. 1972) * 1884 - Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet (d. 1974) *1884 or 1885 - Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1952) *1988 - Eliska Amor, Spanish American actress *1890 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (d. 1956) *1892 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander (d. 1948) *1894 - Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974) *1895 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973) *1898 - Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974) *1903 - Stu Erwin, American actor (d. 1967) *1905 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (d. 1969) *1912 - Tibor Sekelj, Croatian explorer (d. 1988) *1913 - Mel Allen, American sports reporter (d. 1996) * 1913 - Woody Hayes, American college football coach (d. 1987) * 1913 - Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (disappeared 1975) *1914 - Margarete Mewes, Nazi overseer at concentration camp * 1914 - Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (d. 2007) *1916 - Marcel Bigeard, French general * 1916 - Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director (d. 1996) * 1916 - Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974) *1917 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, Nobel Prize Laureate *1921 - Hugh Downs, American television host *1922 - Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey (d. 1982) *1927 - Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (d. 2007) *1929 - Vic Morrow, American actor (d. 1982) *1931 - Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (d. 2006) * 1931 - Brian Kelly, American actor (d. 2005) * 1931 - Phyllis McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters) *1932 - Alexander Kluge, German actor and film director *1933 - Madhubala, Indian actress (d. 1969) *1934 - Michel Corboz, Swiss conductor * 1934 - Florence Henderson, American actress *1936 - Fanne Foxe, Argentine dancer and focus of a 1974 scandal involving Congressman Wilbur Mills. * 1936 - Andrew Prine, American actor *1941 - Donna Shalala, American educator * 1941 - Paul Tsongas, United States Senator from Massachusetts (d. 1997) *1942 - Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City * 1942 - Andrew Robinson, American actor * 1942 - Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (d. 1962) *1943 - Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk) * 1943 - Aaron Russo, American movie producer (d. 2007) *1944 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist * 1944 - Alan Parker, British film director and writer *1944 - Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (d. 1978) *1945 - Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein *1946 - Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (d. 2003) * 1946 - Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003) *1947 - Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1975) *1948 - Pat O'Brien, American sportscaster and television host * 1948 - Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller) *1950 - Roger Fisher, American musician (Heart) *1951 - Kevin Keegan, English footballer * 1951 - JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater *1952 - Nancy Keenan, current NARAL president *1955 - Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler *1957 - Alan Hunter, one of the original MTV VJs * 1957 - Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano *1958 - Enrique Mansilla, Argentine racing driver * 1958 - Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer *1959 - Renée Fleming, American soprano *1960 - Jim Kelly, American football player * 1960 - Meg Tilly, Canadian actress *1961 - Phillip Hamilton, American author *1962 - Kevyn Aucoin, American cosmetologist (d. 2002) * 1962 - Michael Higgs, English actor * 1962 - Philippe Sella, French rugby player * 1962 - Sakina Jaffrey, Indian actress *1963 - Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor *1964 - Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist * 1964 - Zach Galligan, American actor *1966 - Petr Svoboda, National Hockey League player *1967 - Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player * 1967 - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, British entrepreneur *1968 - Jules Asner, American television personality *1969 - Adriana Behar, Brazilian beach volleyball player * 1969 - Harry Colon, American football player *1970 - Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist * 1970 - Simon Pegg, British comedian and actor *1971 - Noriko Sakai, Japanese singer * 1971 - Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler *1972 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player * 1972 - Big Daddy V, American professional wrestler * 1972 - Hiroshi, Japanese comedian * 1972 - Rob Thomas, American musician (Matchbox Twenty) * 1972 - Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress *1973 - Steve McNair, American football player *1974 - Filippa Giordano, Italian singer *1975 - Scott Owen, Australian musician (The Living End) * 1975 - Yul Kwon, American Survivor contestant *1976 - Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer (Leaves' Eyes) *1977 - Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist * 1977 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007) *1978 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player * 1978 - Dean Gaffney, British actor * 1978 - Darius Songaila, basketball player *1979 - Antonio Chatman, American football player *1980 - Fatima Leyva, Mexican footballer * 1980 - Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress * 1980 - Josh Senter, American screenwriter *1982 - Marian Gaborik, Slovak hockey player *1983 - Bacary Sagna, French footballer * 1983 - Will South, Thirteen Senses frontman *1985 - Karima Adebibe, Moroccan-English actress and model * 1985 - Tyler Clippard, American baseball player * 1985 - Heart Evangelista, Pinay celebrity * 1985 - Hamed Namouchi, Tunisian footballer * 1985 - Natsume Sano, Japanese gravure idol * 1985 - Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer * 1985 - Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress *1986 - Michael Ammermüller, German racing driver *1987 - Joseph Pichler, American actor * 1987 - Julia Savicheva, Russian singer * 1987 - David Wheater, English footballer *1988 - Ángel Di María, Argentine soccer player *1992 - Freddie Highmore, English actor, Deaths * 270 - St. Valentine marking Valentines Day (some sources say 269, others 273). * 869 - Saint Cyril, Greek monk, scholar, theologian and linguist (b. 827) *1317 - Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282) *1400 - King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367) *1405 - Timur, Mongol conqueror (b. 1336) *1571 - Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517) *1676 - Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist *1714 - Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen Consort of Spain (b. 1688) *1737 - Charles Talbot, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685) *1744 - John Hadley, inventor (b. 1682) *1779 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728) *1780 - William Blackstone, English jurist (b. 1723) *1808 - John Dickinson, American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania (b. 1732) *1831 - Vicente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero (b. 1782) * 1831 - Henry Maudslay, English inventor (b. 1771) *1870 - St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General (b. 1815) *1881 - Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812) *1885 - Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832) *1891 - William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General (b. 1820) *1894 - Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (b. 1814) *1922 - Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (assassinated) (b. 1880) *1929 - Tom Burke, American runner (b. 1875) *1942 - Adnan Bin Saidi, Officer of the Malay Regiment killed in the defense of Singapore (b. 1915) *1943 - Dora Gerson, German actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (b. 1899) * 1943 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862) *1945 - Mordecai Brown, baseball player (b. 1876) *1949 - Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901) *1952 - Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896) *1958 - Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899) *1959 - Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (b. 1898) *1967 - Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884) *1969 - Vito Genovese, American gangster (b. 1897) *1970 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880). *1974 - Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1903) *1975 - Julian Huxley, British biologist (b. 1887) * 1975 - P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881) *1979 - Adolph Dubs, American diplomat (b. 1920) *1980 - Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor *1983 - Lina Radke, German athlete (b. 1903) *1987 - Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, Russian composer (b. 1904) * 1987 - Karolos Koun, Greek theater director (b. 1908) *1988 - Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901) *1989 - James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900) *1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (executed) (b. 1936) *1995 - U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907) * 1995 - Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (b. 1923) *1999 - John Ehrlichman, American presidential advisor (b. 1925) * 1999 - Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (b. 1933) *2002 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922) *2003 - Dolly, first cloned mammal (b. 1996) * 2003 - Johnny Longden, English jockey (b. 1907) *2004 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970) *2005 - Najai Turpin, American boxer * 2005 - Rafik Hariri, Lebanese politician and billionaire businessman (b. 1944) *2006 - Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923) * 2006 - Lynden David Hall, British singer (b. 1974) * 2006 - Darry Cowl, French musician and actor (b. 1925) *2007 - Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920) Holidays and observances *Bulgaria - Trifon Zarezan (Wine-grower’s Day) *Mexico - Day of National Mourning (1831). *Arizona - Admission Day (1912). *Oregon - Admission Day (1859). *Western World - St. Valentine's Day. *Norway - Ballantine's Day. *Iraq - 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party. Liturgical feasts * Europe/Catholicism - Feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe. * Saint Abraham (d. 422) * Saint Valentine (d. 422). * February 14 External links * BBC: On This Day * * On this day in Canada ---- Category:February